Valve Clearance

seanie

Well-known member
checking my valve clearances this weekend after running in my engine.
did up a spreadsheet might come in handy for anyone doing it.
 

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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 19
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
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  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 22
  • Subaru DOHC Valve Clearance Worksheet.pdf
    184.8 KB · Views: 22
Sick of valvetrain annoying tapping?
Valve Clearance DIY with Engine in car in case anyone wants to give it a go.

what you need
Tools:
Socket set up to 24mm
Spanners up to 24mm
Air Impact gun ( not Necessary but handy)
Micrometer Screw Gauge or accurate Vernier Calipers
Feeler Gauge
10mm hex bit for cam pulley bolts

Parts:
Rocker Cover Gasket Set
Cam Shaft Seals
3 Bond 1215 grey sealer or equivalent
Shims to be ordered as required

1.remove rocker covers, to do this on RHS i had to remove air box and pipe, boost sensors and maf wiring and plug leads.
on LHS window washer bottle, and wiring for battery and alternator and cam sensor and plug leads.
remove 8 x 10mm bolts either side.
Drain coolant and remove radiator by removing 2 retaining brackets on top of rad and unplug both cooling fans and disconnect hoses.

2. Before you go any further check your valve clearances now.
you have 8 cams either side of engine and they are in pairs so you will be checking 2 at a time.
inlet clearances which are on the top side of the engine should be .20mm +/- 0.04mm and exhaust are on the bottom side should be 0.25 +/- 0.04mm
Place ratchet and 22mm socket on crankshaft pulley bolt.
Rotate crankshaft until one pair of cams are pointing directly away from the valve towards the side of the car.
measure clearance between cam and valve bucket as shown and record it in worksheet and repeat for all 16 valves.
If all your clearances are within tolerance replace rocker cover gaskets and refit rocker covers and everything else that was removed. feeler gauge should not be loose it should just drag between underside of cam and bucket.
If clearances are outside tolerance then proceed as follows.
In Picture one of camshafts is removed already pay no heed to this.




3. remove timing belt, to do this i had to remove alternator belt by slackening couple of 12mm bolts on alternator and tensioner.
remove crankshaft outer pulley by removing 22mm crankshaft bolt.
fit spacer/ washer of about an inch on crankshaft bolt and refit to crankshaft to allow rotation of engine. i used a big nut that slid on over the bolt.
remove timing belt outer covers by removing couple of 10mm bolts.
rotate engine to top dead centre until all timing marks are aligned as shown. ( this picture shows engine out of car)
slacken tensioner and remove belt.




4. rotate crankshaft 90Degrees clockwise from 12 o clock to 3 o clock, this will allow rotation of camshafts without valve piston contact.
remove camshaft pulley bolts, this is where the air impact gun comes in handy however i could only get the gun on 3 as you havent enough clearance, if that is the case then you can get a spanner on the camshaft itself (see arrows on picture) i think it was a 24mm form memory but it might be bigger and open bolt with breaker bar.




5.Once cam pulleys are removed, remove inner timing belt covers ( couple of 10 mm bolts)



6.From here on in you have to be careful and take your time.
Lay out clean work area or bench this has to be spotless and lay out your valve clearance work sheets with initial clearances already marked in.
remove camshaft cap bolts all 10mm and remove camshaft caps and camshaft.




7. i tend to lay everything out on bench the same way as it comes off engine but all caps and shafts have identification marks if you do mix them up ( **caps are not interchangeable**). you can see the cap her marked 4IHN and an arrow. the 4 stands for cylinder 4 and I is for Inlet and arrow points to front of engine, all caps are marked the same cylinders 1,2,3,4 inlet and Exhaust. cylinder 1 is driver side front, 2 is pass front, 3 driver rear and 4 pass rear, inlet top exhaust bottom.

.


8.once exhaust camshafts are removed be careful that the valve buckets and shims dont slide out and fall on the ground.
remove the buckets with a magnet, the shim will normally be stuck to the inside of the bucket if not use magnet to remove shim from top of valve.



9.Lay out buckets and shims on worksheet
measure shims with micrometer and either get bigger or smaller shim to take up slack or increase clearance to get desired gap.
I had to get 10 in total, 4 valves needed no adjustment and i was able to use 2 others of the old shims elsewhere.



10.when fitting new shims, i touch them off magnet this will help them stick to the top of the valve an the wont fall out. liberally oil buckets before refitting and slide them over valve. lightly oil new camshaft seals where they make contact with shaft and fit to cam shaft.
Oil camshaft and caps and fit in correct orientation. tighten camshaft cap bolts bit by bit evenly in sequence, i think the inner cap bolts are torqued to roughly 20nm the outer lighter cap bolts are only torqued to something around 6-10nm i will have to double check that torque. torquing is not important an experienced guy will no by feel how tights to go. Once caps are tightened recheck valve clearances and if they are all in spec refitting is reversal of removal.

Good luck!
 
Thats a great write up , I have some noisy tapping when hot on the driver side head may do this at some stage
 
mine was driver side too, drove me off my nut everytime i passed between 2 walls. sounds sweet now :icon_biggrin:
 
stuff like this should go up on the main site to show the kind of knowledge we have on here and possibly entice new members .

great write up lad
 
Re: Re: Valve Clearance

[quote author=seanie link=topic=38061.msg1#msg1 date=1371567883]
mine was driver side too, drove me off my nut everytime i passed between 2 walls. sounds sweet now :icon_biggrin:
[/quote]

Ah stop man. I already paid someone to shim the heads 2 years ago during the engine build.


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Awesome write up... I'm gonna finally have to sort the engine which is still sitting in my room on a shopping trolley lol

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